perennial - LJN Blog Posts - Landscape Juice Network2024-03-29T11:26:44Zhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/perennialA Vibrant Mix of Machinery and Sustainabilityhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/a-vibrant-mix-of-machinery-and-sustainability2022-09-26T11:26:36.000Z2022-09-26T11:26:36.000ZRichard Taylorhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/RICHARDTAYLOR398<div><div class="avia_textblock av_inherit_color"><p class="p1"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><strong><span class="s1">We were delighted to welcome 300 people in person for our first full RTM Show Live since 2019! Brackwell Farm was once again alive with the hum of conversation and machinery as guests took advantage of the opportunity to talk with over 30 manufacturers, watch demos and enjoy ride-and-drive trials.</span></strong></span></p></div><div class="avia_textblock av_inherit_color"><p class="p1"><span class="s1" style="font-size:10pt;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10827451096,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10827451096,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10827451096?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>In addition to the machinery, customers and visitors were able to hear from five excellent speakers in our new hay loft auditorium during the morning, including <strong>Jo Little</strong> from <a href="https://www.planetmark.com/" target="_blank">Planet Mark</a>, one of the UK’s leading organisations in sustainability – such a hot topic for our industry! </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span class="s1">Guests also enjoyed <strong>Colonel Dan Rex MVO</strong> from the <a href="https://queensgreencanopy.org/" target="_blank">Queen’s Green Canopy</a> – one of many, many great legacies of Her Majesty The Queen. Set up to encourage people to Plant a Tree for the Jubilee, the QGC has already inspired over a million trees to be planted across the United Kingdom and is now extended to the end of March 2023, </span><span class="s2">giving people the opportunity to plant trees in memoriam to honour Her Majesty.</span></span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1" style="font-size:10pt;"><strong>Ed Charles</strong> from <a href="https://perennial.org.uk/" target="_blank">Perennial</a> was able to give visitors more insight into how it offers support and financial assistance to all the workers in our industry – anyone working with grass, trees, flowers or plants! Many had never heard of the charity before and were blown away to learn what help is available.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1" style="font-size:10pt;">And of course, there was our usual pig roast and our very own Becky’s cakes too!</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1" style="font-size:10pt;">I’d like to thank all our Customers, Suppliers, Speakers and Colleagues who made the Show such a great day after the challenges of the last couple of years. Equally, we all have a responsibility to improve the sustainability of the industry and the Show created a perfect opportunity to explore machinery innovations and a lot more in this regard.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1" style="font-size:10pt;">A couple of comments from speakers after the event:-</span></p><div class="av-special-heading av-4xr1ql5-d93bdccdf0ed9334adc3ad5cde0681e2 av-special-heading-h5 custom-color-heading blockquote modern-quote modern-centered avia-builder-el-34 el_before_av_testimonials avia-builder-el-first av-inherit-size av-linked-heading"><h5 class="av-special-heading-tag"><span style="font-size:10pt;">“Thank you so much for having me and providing the opportunity to speak, and explore a whole new industry. I thoroughly enjoyed the morning and definitely sensed an overall feeling of interest and enthusiasm which is fantastic. Well done for putting on a great event.” <br /> </span><span style="font-size:10pt;"><em>Jo Little, Planet Mark</em></span></h5><div class="av-special-heading av-sangrd-8b55d45c21db59bc674bc3b5673f0823 av-special-heading-h5 custom-color-heading blockquote modern-quote modern-centered avia-builder-el-40 el_before_av_testimonials avia-builder-el-first av-inherit-size av-linked-heading"><h5 class="av-special-heading-tag"><span style="font-size:10pt;">“Just a quick note to say thank you for having Perennial along at the show last week. Thank you also for the driving of people to attend my talk. It was well received by many people I spoke to and quite a few were surprised that a charity like Perennial existed for them specifically.” <br /> <em>Ed Charles, Perennial</em></span></h5><p><a href="https://rtmachinery.co.uk/a-vibrant-mix-of-machinery-and-sustainability/" target="_blank">More photos ></a></p><p><span style="font-size:10pt;">If you'd like to join us next year, put Wednesday 6th September in your diary now!</span></p><p> </p></div><p><span style="font-size:10pt;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:10pt;"> </span></p></div></div></div>Britmow 2020https://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/britmow-20202020-03-05T23:08:44.000Z2020-03-05T23:08:44.000ZFleur Voicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/FleurVoice<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4019202743?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>Britmow weren’t aware how much of an impact attending a trade show would have on their future endeavours. In the run up to their 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary, they were exploring ideas of how to celebrate. It’s only when they met Kate Cooney from the industry charity Perennial that they got their inspiration – to do a road trip on a lawn mower. One thing led to another and they decided on a 1,000-mile road trip that would pass through significant landmarks of the Horticulture industry.</p>
<p>Starting from the Phoenix Iron works, now home to the Stroud Brewery but was where the first Budding lawnmowers were invented back in the 1830’s, the trip will also stop by Ransomes in Ipswich, Dennis of Derby, Allett in Stafford, the Perennial Garden at York Gate Garden in Leeds, and will finish The Signal Tower Museum in Arbroath – the most northernly point of lawnmower manufacturing in the UK.</p>
<p>To be able to execute this ambitious trip, Britmow had their eyes on a specific little motor – a 1974 Ransomes Motor Triple advertised on an internet auction. After a little scepticism, careful consideration and thorough interrogation of Perennial, the vendor agreed to donate the machine to the cause.</p>
<p>To get the machine up and running to its former glory, the students at Pershore College have kindly agreed to refurbish it so that it is MOT ready for its ambitious adventure.</p>
<p>However, this long journey is not only to celebrate Britmow’s birthday, but also to raise money through sponsorships and donations to raise awareness of the turf industry sector within Perennial, but also to celebrate historical as well as contemporary manufacturing of lawnmowers in the UK.</p>
<p>Perennial is the only UK charity dedicated to helping people within the horticulture industry, and provides free and confidential advice, support and financial assistance for people of all ages working in, or retired from, the industry.</p>
<p>Any donations or sponsorships would be greatly appreciated. Please see all contact information as well as websites and dedicated pages below. </p>
<p><strong>Of course, if you would like to read about another story that is familiar to Landscape Juice members, here is a link to the founder of Landscape Juice Network, my Dad’s, Mowerthon: <a href="https://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/one-man-one-mower-1250-miles">https://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/one-man-one-mower-1250-miles</a>. </strong></p>
<p><strong>I am bursting with pride while writing this that my Dad was the predecessor to do this ambitious trip. Now, it’s time to support something that Dad would’ve been overjoyed to have known about, and that he would’ve whole-heartedly supported.</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3314142855,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3314142855,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3314142855?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="482" /></a></strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Follow Britmows adventures on social media:</strong></p>
<p>Facebook: @Britmow</p>
<p>Twitter: @Britmow1</p>
<p>Instagram: Britmow01</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you would like to support #Britmow please donate via <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/britmow-perennial-road-run">https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/britmow-perennial-road-run</a></p>
<p>For more information about Perennial, please see <a href="https://perennial.org.uk/">https://perennial.org.uk/</a></p>
<p> </p></div>Oak End Nursery & Potager opens in Chalfont St Giles, Buckshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/oak-end-nursery-potager-opens-in-chalfont-st-giles-bucks2013-06-19T12:00:00.000Z2013-06-19T12:00:00.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314106138?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="600" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314106138?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="600" class="align-center" /></a><span class="font-size-4">Specialist in Perennials to the trade 10% off all trade orders before 8 July 2013.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Trade Open Days 20-21 June, 3 - 8pm.</span></p>
<p>Oak End Nursery & Potager has opened, providing top quality herbaceous perennials to garden designers, landscapers and contractors, and the general public. The nursery also offers a garden design service, from whole garden layouts to individual borders, and a planting service.</p>
<p>Oak End founders Liz Apedaile and Liz Robinson both have backgrounds in horticulture and long experience in garden design and landscaping. Together they have worked to create their ideal production nursery and make it a source of inspiration and plantsmanship. “While garden design has been an important part of our working lives,” says Liz Apedaile, “it’s the plants that captured our hearts.” Oak End’s stock includes more than 170 different varieties of perennial plants, ranging from acanthus to verbena, and the nursery can source plants as well.</p>
<p>“Perennials have become increasingly popular,” notes Liz Robinson. “Although many die down in winter, with clever planning, you can always ensure there will be something of interest in the garden – even in the depths of winter, you can create the anticipation of something about to happen.”</p>
<p>Liz Apedaile, PhD studied Agricultural Botany and has worked in garden design since 1988, winning an RHS Bronze medal at Hampton Court Flower Show in 2001. Liz Robinson gained a diploma in garden design at Merrist Wood College in 2000 and set up her own garden design business, winning medals from the Hampton Court Flower Show and Chelsea Flower Show.</p>
<p>In March 2012, they took on a two-acre site in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire that had been left to nature for 20 years, and transformed it into a welcoming oasis of green and growing space. In the heart of the nursery, Ms Apedaile and Ms Robinson are creating a beautiful potager for the local community, an edible garden where vegetables are cultivated amidst flowers, herbs and fruit to create a lovely fusion of form and function.</p>
<p>Liz Robinson observes, “We are both strong believers in the importance of locally produced food, and our potager is designed to feed the body as well as the soul.”</p>
<p>Oak End Nursery & Potager is located at Lambscroft Farm, Narcot Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks HP8 4DX, tel: (01494) 411 001. Summer opening hours are Tuesday to Friday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 am-4:00 pm.</p>
<p>Website: <a href="http://www.oakend.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.oakend.co.uk</a></p>
</div>Landscape Gardener faces homelessnesshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/landscape-gardener-faces-homelessness2012-06-06T13:30:00.000Z2012-06-06T13:30:00.000ZLindsey Churchillhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LindseyChurchill<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314118352?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314118352?profile=original" width="217"/></a></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-2">Thank you for reading “<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/groundsman-in-crisis" target="_blank">Groundsman in Crisis</a>” today I want to introduce you to Sam who we met earlier this year.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">Sam is a well-respected landscape gardener whose work has featured in the trade press so some details have been changed to protect his identity but, as always, the case is sadly true.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">Sam was contracted to design and build a high profile, public, wonderfully ornate garden and was thrilled at the opportunity and the outcome. He was awaiting payment for the project when he learnt that the client had gone into liquidation, he was to receive nothing for his efforts.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">Unable to pay his suppliers he fell into serious debt and after 25 years in business he was forced to fold. The stress and anxiety that Sam experienced, sadly, has resulted in him beginning unable to return to any form of work since.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">Sam was told about Perennial by another agency who thought we might be able to provide a grant to repair his bathroom. We visited Sam and talked to him about his finances and he told us about his personal debts, it quickly became clear that urgent action was required as he had been selling all his possessions to pay his creditors and now had nothing left to offer them, he was at serious risk of losing his home.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">Our Debt Advice Manager was contacted and she immediately began work, knowing only too well that the charging orders that had been applied to his property and the intention of one creditor to enforce bankruptcy meant that one missed payment would result in homelessness.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">The creditors were all immediately contacted and negotiations began to reduce the monthly payments. Understandings were reached that, with a respected debt adviser working alongside him, no further action would be taken against Sam as long as negotiated payments are maintained.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">The complexities of this case and the delicate mental health of the client are such that it is being managed by two senior staff, our Casework Manager and our Debt Advice Manager, who, alternately visit Sam monthly, working together with him to maximise his income, reduce his expenditure, assist with budgeting and deal swiftly with any problems as they arise. Working to an agreed plan, we believe Sam has a real chance of retaining his property and returning to work as a landscape gardener within the next 12 months.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">We meet people like Sam every day, we know that there are many more that struggle on because they are ashamed of their situation. There is no need to be alone in this, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Our debt team do not judge and I promise you will feel better just for talking to them.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">If you would like help or further information about our totally free and confidential debt advice service please do not hesitate to contact me. </span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">lchurchill@perennial.org.uk</span></p><p><span class="font-size-2">01275 817924 / 07813 148810</span></p></div>Perennial - What we dohttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/perennial-what-we-do2012-05-04T14:29:43.000Z2012-05-04T14:29:43.000ZLindsey Churchillhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LindseyChurchill<div><p> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314118352?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314118352?profile=original" width="217"/></a></p><p>As I write 15 Perennial staff across the country will be helping colleagues in horticultural trades as they face some of lifes toughest challenges.</p><p>We have 11 caseworkers and 4 debt advisors who are professional, friendly and non judgemental and happy to help whether you are facing sudden loss of income through redundancy or major illness, disadvantaged by disability or family circumstances or overwhelmed by personal debt, these are just some of the circumstances which bring people to us.</p><p>Our caseworkers can help you with claiming or challenging benefits and tax credits decisions, we are all fully trained so whether you need help working out what you are entitled to or you need representation at a Social Security tribunal, we have someone in your area that can help you.</p><p>We also help with ensuring that people can access the help that they are entitled to from other government departments. Particularly relevant if you are suddenly facing living with a disability or life changing illness or maybe you are juggling working with a caring repsonsibility. We understand that getting the help and equipment that you need can be tough, we can help with that and where state help isn't available we may be able to help with a grant from our funds.<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314117973?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="75" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314117973?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="75" height="112"/></a></p><p>Our debt advisors can help with personal debt, negotition with creditors, dealing with county court judgements, bankruptcy and debt relief orders etc and there is no charge - not even hidden in the small print!</p><p>We help the whole family, we love being able to help the children of horticulturists since merging with the Royal Fund for Gardeners Children.</p><p>There is no typical client, we deal with individuals with individual problems and we respect that, our aim is to help you to find a way forward and we will work with you for as long as is needed to either solve your problem or until the best possible outcome has been acheived.</p><p>For more information please contact me <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:lchurchill@perennial.org.uk">lchurchill@perennial.org.uk</a> or to access our services please call 0845 230 1839.</p><p> </p><p> </p></div>Current trends in planting and designhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/current-trends-in-planting-and2011-05-25T16:30:00.000Z2011-05-25T16:30:00.000ZPaul Ridleyhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/PaulRidley<div><p align="left" style="text-align: left;"> </p><p align="left" style="text-align: left;"> </p><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">This was the title of the Gardens Illustrated lecture held yesterday at the Royal Geographical Society. Jointly steered by Tim Richardson, garden historian and writer, and Noel Kingsbury, researcher and writer, the discussion between three well-known designers pointed out some of the directions that garden planting and design is taking.</p><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">The designers, Andy Sturgeon, Dan Pearson and Cleve West - officially up there with the big boys now, thanks to his ‘best in show ‘ garden at Chelsea this week – had interesting things to say about both their own practice and the future development of design, although it seemed to me that a number of points were left unaddressed.</p><br/><br/><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">In one sense the debate turned on the tension between ‘Modernism’ and ‘traditional’ gardening styles. Part of the trouble in this debate is that the term ‘Modernism’ refers to a distinct artistic movement, with political and social dimensions, that emerged in Europe after the First World War and held sway for a quarter century and more, evolving as it travelled across the planet and finding its spiritual home in interwar Germany at the Bauhaus school and in the United States. We all think we know ‘Modernism’ – but we use the term as shorthand in relation to any pared-down building, garden, painting or sculpture, and this is often an inaccurate way to describe what we see. I think we need to seek a new term to identify our current creative trends - ‘contemporary’ is insufficient. But this is an aside – what of gardens?</p><br/><br/><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">Andy Sturgeon has written that the conflation of Modernist and Arts and Crafts styles in gardens is a ‘very<br/>British fudge’ – he’s right. In a way most current ‘Modern’ designs of strong ground plans, asymmetrical and using up-to-date versions of old materials (sawn, honed and polished stone rather than riven slabs) still have at their heart the Arts and Crafts style – loose, romantic planting set within a strong frame. The plant choices have changed over the years with the tides of fashion, but the great traditions of planting that have rendered the British style desirable across the world still hold sway. We love our plants – the variety, the colour, the succession through the year. Creating plantings which look good at any season, that combine wonderfully harmonising or clashing colour combinations with scent and structure is, as Tim Richardson reminded the audience, our greatest native vernacular art form. The French have food, we have gardens. For many, this fudge is an acceptable one – you can have a wide variety of plants and a funky terrace all in the same space, and call it ‘contemporary’ - but what comes next? If we are to identify<br/>and define a new style, what will it look like – and what will it be called?</p><br/><br/><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">The big developments are taking place outside the UK, it seems – the speakers referred to Eastern Europe<br/>and Germany as areas where exploration into new planting styles are furthest advanced. These developments hinge on the the naturalism of wild plant communities, and this naturalism is something we are also exploring in the UK. Through research into plant communities such as meadows, steppes and prairies, there have crept into our planting palette over the past 20 years the echinaceas, rudbeckias, grasses, eupatoriums and countless other varieties. Wilder-looking than traditional garden plants (although, of course, hybridisation and selections mean that we are seeing increasing numbers of cultivars that are shorter, more floriferous, more brightly-coloured and more ‘garden-worthy’) these plants have been used widely in less formal plantings in the UK and beyond. </p><br/><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">The New Perennial style, prairie plantings and drift planting all use this type of plant material, but such<br/>gardens need to be created on a large scale in order to succeed fully. Meadows and ‘pictorial meadows’ are now equally engineered, and while we call them ‘naturalistic’ they are in no way natural – they are gardens, and as such are as much an artifice as a rose garden underplanted with catmint. The fact that they emulate nature helps us to view them as ‘wild’, but in reality I think that they are emblematic of our current uneasy relationship with the natural world.</p><br/><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">While news regarding the environment is continually gloomy – climate change, deforestation and biodiversity issues continue to worsen it seems, no matter how much we say we want to make amends – we appear to be seeking a way of both salving our consciences as well as creating little bits of nature to return to from the pressures of the modern world. That is what gardens have always been, of course, but the yearning to have a patch of ground that looks as though it could be a piece of unimproved nature seems to<br/>be getting stronger. Seed mixes for meadows can be tweaked for their aesthetic value, and while they may help to improve biodiversity, a similar effect can be created in most traditional gardens by letting the lawn grow a bit weedy and leaving flowering stems to stand through the winter.</p><br/><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">Don’t get me wrong – I love the new styles of naturalistic meadows and prairies, engineered plant communities and green roofs – I just don’t think we should fool ourselves that we are making anything less artificial than a traditional garden. The biggest benefits come from the maintenance regimes we adopt, and these can become wildlife-friendly no matter what our preferred style of gardening. The danger of ‘going wild’ is that, in small spaces, any sense of underlying structure is lost, and gardens lack focus. On an appropriately large scale there is still scope for areas of naturalistic planting within an established layout.</p><br/><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">Dan Pearson reflected yesterday that he hopes, in large areas of his new garden, to allow nature to have the upper hand – by careful editing, restrained addition and sympathetic management he aims to create his garden from what is there, on the ground. Perhaps this is as close as we will get to a truly naturalistic garden – but it will still be a garden.</p><p align="left" style="text-align: left;"> </p><p align="left" style="text-align: left;">(Apologies for the lack of images - blog editing tool won't letme upload them at present - photos to follow)</p></div>Perennial - The Royal Gardeners' Benevolent Fundhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/6660693_BlogPost_243792008-10-21T06:11:28.000Z2008-10-21T06:11:28.000ZPhil Voicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/philvoice<div><a class="noborder" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314110182?profile=original" target="_blank"><img width="150" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314110182?profile=RESIZE_180x180" alt="" width="150" height="130" style="float: right;" /></a>It certainly is a difficult period for business and there is no reason to think that a gardener or a landscaper is isolated from financial or personal worries or problems and indeed we are certainly not immune from illness. I for one think that there is no better a work environment that the outdoors, whether that is a garden, out in the woodland or in a great big open space. Working alone is great when life is rosy but as soon as a problem sets it then that insulation can become a burden and contribute to your anxiety or depression thus leading to further problems. <a href="http://www.perennial.org.uk/helping_you/advice.aspx">Perennial - The Royal Gardeners' Benevolent Fund</a> - is a charity that was set up in 1839 to help gardeners who experience problems. Further reading: <a href="http://www.landscapejuice.com/2008/10/gardeners-royal.html">Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Fund.</a>
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